2 words: "Yavapai County"
Moved here 9 years ago this week, after my 30+ years in Phoenix.
Best move ever.
You listening Adam <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Monte3, was just revisiting that last night actually. Unfortunately my wife passed up on a goo job at Yavapai county court house a few months back because we had just moved and i was still feeling the "i never want to move again" since then i've forgotten what that's like.
Last summer or two summers ago i had an interview at ADOT up there, seemed like a pretty good job plus i would keep my pension and retirement date. I was all dumb on that one though and insisted on making what i make down here in the valley, while i wasn't out of line on that I know better. Government agencies can't "buy" skilled trade workers they have a set amount for a new hire, I should have caved in...

????? ... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />...Kids these days..

Third try with emissions was last night. My work on cleaning the EGR ports apparently had some effect, but NOX is still too high, at 5.55; the limit is 5.50. That's right, it's over by less than 1%. I came home and checked for vacuum leaks with propane, found none and checked timing - spot on. So I pulled about a degree and a half and will try emissions again tonight. Hey, it worked for my '86 Montero last year...

I also revisited polishing paint by hand. Jorge's '86 is dark blue and heavily oxidized. I gave it the sample section treatment with rubbing compound followed by polishing compound then a coat of wax on one part of the hood. Wow, there's paint under there. I'll refine my techniques after I consult with HoseB, but I was pretty surprised. Rubbing compound is not to be taken lightly, stuff works.

John B.

The truck flunked emissions again Wednesday night with NOX up a touch to 5.72. I also learned that I ordered the wrong rectangular headlights, since I ordered under a Mighty Max instead of a Power Ram 50 and the MM uses the larger single headlamps and the PR50 uses the smaller 4 lamp set-up. So Wednesday pretty much sucked.

The new headlights will be here today, and they were cheaper, so with the windfall of savings, I ordered new breather elements for inside the air cleaner (both of them), a carburetor mounting gasket and windshield wipers. Big Whoop.

I am next going to pull the carb and intake manifold off and replace those gaskets and replace the vacuum lines, hoping to improve on any small leaks there may be there, resulting in the high NOX readings. It's about the last thing I can think of to improve that, since the other two measured pollutants are still so low, I know it's not catalytic converter related. Then we'll find out how much timing advance this thing can stand (after it passes emissions) and make a real runner out of it.

Also, in tune with the "I can't believe I missed this" section, I noticed that the front suspension is cranked up against the untrimmed bump stops. No wonder it wasn't riding so well. Naturally it's not easy to pass a blade through bump stops with a load on them, so I'll have to uncrank it, trim, then crank back up. I blame Toasty, even if he didn't do it.

John B.

I so did that, I didn't realize they had preloaded the bumpstops. Last I checked they were just off the bumpstops.

My thinking is that if you had any significant vacuum leaks you'd be failing HC as well because the mixture would be off. NOx is simply due to combustion chamber temps being too high. If you're sure the EGR system is functioning properly, try decarboning the combustion chambers. You've probably done it before and know the procedures, but since I'm here and writing already I'll elaborate. The cheapest method is just a spray bottle filled with water - just spray it continuously down the carb throat while the engine is running. A little more expensive but likely more effective method is to pick up a can of GM Top Engine Cleaner (liquid, not the spray) from any GM parts department (Seafoam will work as well but I have had better experience with the GM product) - suck it into the idling engine through a vacuum hose while having someone keeping the engine running. When you're near the end of the bottle allow the engine to stall as you're sucking the last of the cleaner in then let it sit for 30-45 minutes before restarting and killing any nearby mosquitos with the noxious cloud of smoke it will create.

I already Seafoamed it twice, but maybe I'll try the GM stuff. I'm close enough to Courtesy Chevrolet that I can even walk there, if I'm so inclined.

From just a cursory inspection, it appears that a lot of gasket sealer was used to join up the head with the intake manifold and at least from looking briefly at it, no gasket seems to be present (although Jorge bet me a dollar that he saw one). The HC reading is way low, which could mean a leaned out mixture. I'd actually be able to stand a far higher HC reading and still pass, as long as the NOX reading came down slightly. It won't hurt to try replacing that gasket, the carb base gasket and the vacuum lines anyway, plus throwing some top end cleaner in through the brake booster line, as I did before, following the same procedure RyanY is describing. It seems to be pretty effective at killing mosquitos, too.

I'd say the reason the front suspension is now resting on the bump stops is because of the fifty pounds of grease we blasted off the engine. Ha ha.

John B.

Couple of updates. First, I replaced the filter attached to the side of the air cleaner that the secondary air tube connects to. One side was pretty clean and the side that faces the air cleaner was caked with gunk. Duh, the pipe actually feeds fresh air into the exhaust by a venturi-type effect powered by pulses in the exhaust. So, not as much air was getting into that pipe, likely. This may help.

A much bigger problem was uncovered when I started reading up on how the EGR system actually works. I think I've ruled out the thermo-valve. It should hold a vacuum when the engine is hot, at the port that leads to the EGR valve, and it does. I've verified that the EGR valve holds a vacuum and the plunger moves. The secondary EGR control valve works and the passages are all clear, as when I apply vacuum to the EGR valve with the engine running and pull on the carb-mounted secondary EGR control valve lever, the engine runs rough. BUT, the lever that pushes the other lever, mounted on the throttle shaft is tensioned against the lever that moves the secondary valve by a spring, and that spring is broken, so the linkage doesn't make contact until almost full throttle. It's not supposed to be like that. When I looked at the '86 Raider, I could see the secondary valve move every time I cracked the throttle. The stupid spring isn't obviously replaceable, either. I'll try to think up some way to doctor it so it works again.

No wonder this thing won't pass emissions. At least I don't have to mess with the other stuff now.

John B.

Dang, if you don't take the intake apart to replace the gasket, how are we gonna know who wins the dollar <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />.

Good work dudes. That's gonna be an awesome truck.